How we learn from unconferences: What you told us about #OneTeamGovGlobal Part Two

This is the second in our mini series following on from James Reeve’s How not to suck at unconferences: What we learned from #OneTeamGovGlobal

One Team Gov are committed to living our principle of working in the open. That’s why we are sharing what we learned by the feedback you provided following the #OneTeamGovGlobal Unconference, which took place on 16 July 2018.

We continue this second part of this journey with what you told us about how we could have improved your experience. This post sums up what you shared with us. We’ve amended people’s words slightly for clarity.

We at One Team Gov, think of ourselves as a network, so that we don’t need big budgets to make an impact, but can reach far and wide when telling people what’s going on. Though we believe digital is something you are, not something you do, we know that we have further to go with people from different sectors/specialisms/professions/silos. In all of this, it’s not one person that can sort it out…if you’re reading this, it’s up to you…‘change start with me’.

We asked:

Are you going to do anything differently as a result of the discussions you had?

A pie chart showing whether attendees felt that the event would make them do anything different as a result at the time of completing the survey.

Of the respondents those that responded with “Yes” told us that they planned to:

• Apply some of the unconference principles and techniques to my day job; to run more interactive problem-solving discussions.
• Use the methodology to run a user research studio.
• Organise a mini-unconference at my workplace, something akin to that at Civil Service Live.
• The event provided a new perspective on dealing with frustrations, collaborating with different departments and approaching some problems in different ways.
• Think about behavioural science and the role of user-centred design.
• Change the way we take in stakeholders and others in the design process (if our organisation is ready for it).
• Nurture good connections with people from neighbouring countries.
• Encourage people to focus more on the symbiotic relationship between policy and digital delivery.
• Spend more time understanding a ‘digital’ way of working as a non digital specialist.
• Tell anyone who will listen about One Team Gov!
• Feel empowered to do things differently and not just in the same old Civil Service mould.
• Working twice as hard to listen better, to include as many different voices as possible in decisions, and sharing time, knowledge, and learn with as many people who ask for it.
• Endeavouring to make collaborative links with central government.
• Trying even more to install an innovative end user focused mindset.
• Use feedback loops to influence policy work.
• Build a capability community through collaboration across the public sector.
• Be more conscious that not everyone thrives in an environment where they are given complete trust — some still need structure.
• Work harder to make people aware of user research what it is and how it works.
• Develop a better way of approaching managing performance in development teams.
• Blog more, share more and work in the open more.
• Embedding user researchers and other team members for a day/month as front line staff.
• Work is fixed in waterfall and processes from another era, it will be pushing water up hill to make these new ways of working the norm, but a challenge that is worth accepting.

What, if anything, could we have done differently?

We really wanted to know how to improve so that if we run the event again, or if others run similar events that they can learn from us. We had 44 responses and appreciated people’s candour.

We had a lot of free text responses that we’ve tried to summarise here for you.

Connections — As long with Twitter, we used Medium, Slack, LinkedIn and events to promote #OneTeamGovGlobal. We did not have people’s explicit consent prior to the event to share information about their attendance, only their consent for using a person’s data for the purpose of facilitating the event.

In future, we would ask people’s permission upfront to help connect people together.

• A forum besides Twitter for people to connect pre-event.
• Share a list of people who attended.
• The option to see who was attending before the event to set up 1:1 networking with others and translate a conversation into a lasting connections to take forward.
• Better adverting of the event as word of mouth from a colleague isn’t enough.

Diversity

• Is there anything we can do to make One Team Gov events less… white millennial? And more diversity of job role, too.

‘Unconference’ Format — The unconference experience is different for every single person and it differs with each unconference you go to. What sets each one apart is the uniqueness and diversity of the people in the room.

With each unconference we run, we learn something new. It’s the ideas on how to make the public sector a better place, and the steps we took that afternoon (and continue to take) to achieve it, that make #OneTeamGovGlobal special.

• There was repetition / overlap with some of the session topics, e.g. departmental silos, which was understandable given the pace at which the grid had to take shape. It would add more time in the set up, but building in some time to review the sessions with the highest ranking to make sure there’s not too much overlap and repetition would be useful.
• To appeal to people who aren’t already ‘Digital’, think about how to bring those people along on the journey.
• Clearer completion guidance or explanation of the ‘pitching’ process.

James Arthur Cattell published; What I learnt from running pitching at #OneTeamGovGlobal’ and took this learning into Civil Service Live 2018.

• Some additional context on One Team Gov: history, programming, and where it exists and how to bring it to other places.

This, as well as upcoming events, can be found on the One Team Gov website:

Mission - OneTeamGov

• Focusing around a theme, or a number of themes, would be good in order to find a way of making sure all of the unconference sessions are really adding value.

Sessions

• Slightly more structure in the discussions, or more / stronger facilitation, to keep the discussions enjoyable, focused, inclusive and genuinely collaborative.
• Consolidate some of the sessions — there were a small number that seemed to be aimed at the same problem / need.
• Share all the pitches, even the ones that didn’t make it. There could be themes.
• Collect pitchers’ names on the cards and find a way of letting them know their session had been selected to enable them to present / facilitate should they choose.
• It would have been useful for the session structure to include suggesting actions or solutions that participants could take away from the dilemmas presented, as well as how to continue the discussion / initiative together after the unconference. Maybe something around what concrete actions there and then were going to change. Or ways to work together on practical solutions? Or taking the themes generated and use them to make plans/strategies in the next conference?

The session at #OneTeamGovGlobal discussed ‘How might we make successful One Team Gov movement accelerate in more locations and countries’.

Ultimately, it is up to each person to determine how much they gain from their unconference experience, the connections they make, the relationships they further develop and the things they create. The unconference space acts as a hub that brings about fresh perspectives and infinite possibilities.

• Be less Civil Service and London centric, and assume everyone is native to being ‘in the know’. Don’t made broad assumptions that everyone was keeping up and had started where you started.

Would you come to another One Team Gov event?

A pie chart showing whether attendees felt that they would attend another One Team Gov event.

94% of 49 respondents said they would attend another One Team Gov event in the future. It’s heartwarming to see the event was positively received.

We’ve got plans to bring more events your way in 2019.

One of these events is the next #OneTeamGovGlobal event is taking place this May in Victoria BC, Canada. Read about it here, and sign up here to apply for a ticket.

Would you like to run / organise / help with an event in the future?

A pie chart showing whether attendees would participate in further One Team Gov events.

55% of 49 respondents said they would help with a One Team Gov event in the future. We appreciate the support you’ve given us so far, and will need your help to turn our plans for more events in 2019 into a reality.

Do you have any other feedback?

We had a lot of free text responses that we’ve tried to summarise here for you.

• “You did an amazing job of looking after us throughout the day. The enthusiasm of the organising team and the volunteers was brilliant. Lunch was definitely the best I’ve ever had at a conference with no entrance fee: healthy as well as tasty.”
• This is a fantastic community that brings people together within and across governments.
• Each month One Team Gov is taking steps to change the culture of the Civil Service. Keep going, keep being bold.
• “It was a privilege to attend, and one I didn’t honestly think I’d have. I am so pleased to be able to share this back home in Canada, and with the wider Internet. You made my summer.”
• The enthusiasm from the volunteers was great, really well organised check in process and energy.
• “I’m really looking forward to reflecting in a couple of years time to see how the micro actions add up to see some significant change.”

Where we go from here

We are the change we want to see, and the opportunities to learn are endless. We are taking our reflections and channelling them into One Team Gov’s goals for the coming year. We’re doing this in the open, with you.

We are privileged to see people to bring their ideas to life. Thank you for being a part of our community, and for the impact you’re making. If there is anything else you’d like to know, or that you think we should do, please let us know by replying to this post or on Twitter @OneTeamGov.